Vehicle window tinting is a time intensive operation frequently performed on vehicles to protect the interior and occupants from harmful ultraviolet rays. Such window tinting is especially common in southern climates where vehicles face intensive exposure to sunlight. Wherein window tinting further lessens the burden on the air conditioning system. The plastic material used in tinting further protects the occupants preventing glass from shattering should the vehicle be involved in an accident.
Window tinting may be performed by the vehicle manufacturer, but is more often performed by after-market specialists. These specialists perform a labor intensive process for each window which includes: cleaning the exterior windows; covering each window with a sheet of window tint from the exterior and securing it temporarily in place with a soap and water mixture; physically cutting (with a sharp instrument) the window film to fit the area to be covered and hence act as a template for similar windows; carefully removing the window film template; using the window film template as a guide to cut other similarly needed pieces of tinting film; cleaning the interior of the window; applying the tinting film to the window; removing any extraneous film material from the exterior of the window and cleaning both the exterior surface of the window and the surrounding vehicle, as necessary. Usually, the window film template is actually applied to one of the target windows. Alternatively, a different material, other than window tinting film, might be used for making the template. Window tinting film would then be formed from the template shape as necessary.
Due to the number of steps involved, vehicular window tinting is time consuming, for any minute mistake will have an unsightly finish. With each vehicle to be tinted, the general practice is to make a new template for each window (or set of window pairs). This involves the aforementioned steps of cleaning the vehicle windows before applying the template material. Accordingly, any minimization--or even elimination--of the steps involved would greatly reduce the amount of time needed to tint a vehicle. There always exists the chance of damaging the vehicle when cutting the window template with a sharp object. Any minimization of contact with the exterior of the vehicle would greatly reduce the chance of damage by a tinting film installer.
As an additional result of the numerous steps involved, the level of artistry needed to properly apply and cut both the templates and tinting film requires a relatively high degree of training for each employee in this field. Optimization of tinting film is also a relatedly important consideration and training skill. As a variety of shapes are being cut from wide sheets of tinting film, the proper anticipation of their placement will produce less waste film. Novice or unskilled employees are more likely to make improper tint film cuts from a window template. Minimizing film waste is paramount to achieving competitive prices for the consumer and profitability for the window tinting specialist.
Prior disclosures include U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,939 which shows a CAD (computer-aided design) system connected to a CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) system which is used for the formation and attachment of a multiple-layer film graphic to a glass window of a storefront or building. Such store and building windows are generally planar in nature and not contoured like vehicular windows. Moreover, Patent '939 uses a complex multi-layering of window film, carrier film, support film, and transfer tape to form the window graphic. Such multi-layering is not necessary or even desirable for tinting vehicle windows. Thus, '939 discloses a method to manufacture and assemble, in a controlled environment, a multi-layered (and often multi-colored) window graphic prior to application to the planar surface of a store or building front and fails to disclose a method or apparatus for tinting non-planar windows. In the field of vehicular window tinting, for instance, it is extremely important to be able to fit the film over both the planar surfaces and contoured shapes encountered on vehicular windows.
Accordingly, a window tinting system is needed which minimizes the steps needed to tint non-planar vehicle windows. In particular, the steps which require repeatedly making the same window templates are eliminated by creating a computer database of existing window templates which could then drive a computer-assisted film cutting device. This would reduce the level of skill and the training time needed for each employee of a window tinting shop. This would also correspondingly reduce the amount of waste film material produced in performing the overall tinting process. Moreover, such a system should efficiently account for the complex curvature of most vehicular windows in creating its computer database.